On this week's episode of Top Chef Just Desserts, the remaining pastry chef'testants must recreate the candy forest of sweet treats as seen in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for their Elimination Challenge.
Obviously, they're going for classic, Gene Wilder Wonka and not the more recent, darker Burtonized version. (Although I personally prefer the latter version — that psychedelic tunnel scene and Gene Wilder's hair always freaked me out as a kid.) The show also welcomes some special guests for the challenge: four of the original cast members, better known as Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, Mike TV and Violet Beauregarde. (What? No Augustus Gloop?!)
It looks like (from the preview videos below) some of the chefs are responsible for the "creative" design side of their sugary projects and the others are responsible for executing the over-sized treats. I like the fact that Carlos is making edible wallpaper out of fruit leather, but it had better taste like snozberries or he'll definitely be losing points in my book.
My favorite quote from this week's preview videos:
Rebecca to Craig: "Could you not touch the bear that way, please?" (Of course, she's referring to a giant gummy bear.)
For plenty of snark and a dash of good ol' fashioned sass, listen to the podcast tomorrow!
Tune in to Bravo tonight at 10 pm EST/9 pm C, join our Twitter party during the show (Jeff: @JeffHouck, Katie: @culinarypirate), and listen to our podcast here tomorrow! Check out our fellow Top Chef fanatics, All Top Chef, for the latest news (and some laughs).
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.